Rare 1st pattern RUSSIAN FRONT MEDAL in extremely fine condition, with original ribbon. Makers marked on suspension ring 63 for the German maker Franz Klast & Son, Gablonz.
This stunning German decoration was awarded to German WWII soldiers for combat operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia in 1941, the German Army did not manage to take Moscow before onset of one of the coldest winters in Russian history, German forces managed to get within 6 kilometers of Moscow, but the whole German Army and its advance on Moscow came to a crashing halt, due to terrible winter conditions, German soldier's were ill prepared for a Russian winter, they dug into the frozen ground and tried the best they could to survive out the winter, with many German soldier's dying from being exposed to the minus 40 degrees. The German soldier who survived that first winter, the frozen hell of mother Russia was awarded this the OSTMEDAILLE (THE EAST MEDAL) also known by German soldiers as the frozen meat medal. This medal was designed by a German SS Soldier Unterscharfuehrer Erns Krauit, who served on the Russian front, the observe is concave and shows a German Helmet sitting on a Stick Grenade with the German Eagle clutching a Swastika, which has been historically revised to an Oak Branch. The Observe inscription " WINTERSCHLACHT IM OSTEN 1941/42 " (WINTER BATTLE IN THE EAST) many collector's of German medals class this medal as one of the best designed German medal of WW2.
